Martin Hits The Ceiling On Job Promotion Bias

August 09, 1991|By Carol Kleiman, Jobs writer.

The discriminatory barrier that keeps qualified women and minorities from advancing to executive levels in America`s corporations-called the ``glass ceiling`` because promotion seekers can see through it but not break through it-is ``even lower than was thought,`` U.S. Labor Secretary Lynn Martin said Thursday.

``The question isn`t `why isn`t a woman or minority the president of General Motors?` but more basic: `Are they on the right career path to be president?` `` Martin said in a telephone interview. ``If you work for a company that hires minorities and women but never in sales positions, and only people from sales make senior vice president and above-then it`s no surprise that . . . there are no women or minorities in executive levels.``

FOR THE RECORD - Additional material published Aug. 10, 1991:Corrections and clarifications.In a graphic on an employment survey that appeared in Section 1 on Aug. 9, it was not explicitly stated, but black and Hispanic women were counted in both the women and the minority categories. The Tribuneregrets the error.

Advocates of equal opportunity long have believed that middle management is as high as most women and minority employees can advance. But, according to Martin`s year-long study of nine Fortune 500 companies, they actually are clustered in low-level managerial positions.

The labor secretary told a Washington news conference of her

determination to ``tear down, dismantle, remove and shatter`` the glass ceiling. But, she acknowledged that while she would continue the employment reviews required by law, she is ``not going to go after employers with a 500- pound hammer``-her authority to deny federal contracts to companies that don`t comply with her department`s equal employment regulations.

And while applauding her activism, some of the strongest critics of the glass ceiling wondered why she won`t do that.

``We are thrilled the secretary is embracing the glass ceiling initiative,`` said Nancy Kreiter, research director of Women Employed, a Chicago-based national association of working women.

``But to attack the more subtle discriminatory barriers, the glass ceiling should be included as part of a total compliance review that looks at all practices and ultimately remedies victims of discrimination.``

Martin-who, despite her example, said that General Motors was not among those studied-said she would not release the names of the nine companies, in Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, New York and Los Angeles, all of whom cooperated in the pilot survey. The companies were monitored for glass-ceiling practices during routine compliance checks by the department`s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

While her ``aim is to eliminate the glass ceiling yesterday,`` Martin emphasized her efforts to eliminate the barriers women and minorities face will not be confrontational. Martin said she plans to use ``educational tools`` to work with businesses and unions, encourage voluntary efforts and to give public recognition to companies making changes.

``We want to help businesses understand their corporate cultures, evaluate problems and correct them,`` she said. ``What we`re asking companies to do not only is the right thing to do but will make a better company, one that can stay competitive in the next century.``

Asked if President Bush, who has vetoed civil rights and family leave legislation with similar constituencies, is supportive of her efforts, Martin replied: ``Not only does the White House know about the findings, but this is a president who believes merit should count. This is not about X numbers of women or minorities-it`s about if you have a talented, able person, you should get rid of the barriers.``

Though she would not release statistical information about the nine firms, Martin referred to a 1990 Labor Department study of 94 Fortune 1000 companies with a total of 147,179 employees that showed 16.9 percent of all managers were women and 6 percent minorities. At the level of executives and officials, only 6.6 percent were women and 2.6 percent minorities.

``If there is not a glass ceiling, there certainly is a point beyond which minorities and women have not advanced in some companies,`` the labor secretary said. She added that minorities have ``plateaued`` at lower managerial levels then women.

Other findings of the study include:

- Moving managers up the corporate ladder to senior management levels where important decisions are made was rarely considered a corporate responsibility or part of the planning for career development programs at the firms.

- Appraisal and pay systems that determine salary, bonuses, incentives and prerequisites for employees were not monitored.